catching up

Last night we caught up with my old boss and the Chairman of two of the Boards I served on- Lew and his wife Ellie.  They live nearby in St Petersburg and we get together once or twice a winter to catch up and hear travel plans etc....

We met in another new-to-us place in St Pete called Il Ritorno.  The food was good- with excellent pastas and the service was welcoming, however this was not the place for conversation as the noise level was extremely high... They do have outdoor tables (a few) and that might be an option for an easier way of getting caught up with friends you don't see all that often and really want to talk to...LOL

yellowtail crudo starter-

short rib mezzaluna  (Phil's starter and my main)

Lew's main of black grouper

Ellie's Bucatini pomodoro main-

Phil's truffle risotto main-

tiramisu (deconstructed) that I mostly ate but Lew tried a few bites-

Phil's dessert of hazelnut donuts thingies LOL-

so we shared a bottle of 2000 Chianti (don't remember which producer) and spent most of the time talking about travel plans for 2017 trips - the cooking school in Italy with Chef Hazan for the Estabrooks and Georgia epicurean trip for us and other ideas and favorites... nice evening... and this morning we are off to Chicago for a few days so you will get to see our Oriole dinner and a new hot place Entente... which coincidentally is right down the street from us! stay tuned!